Freedom Fest 5k on Tap Soon

The 16th annual Jackson County Freedom Fest 5K Run and Walk will begin at 9 a.m. Wednesday at Manpower Park on East Main Street in Jackson.

Entry fee for the run through the business district and western residential section of Jackson is $15, with proceeds going toward sponsorship of community events by the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce.

Plaques will be awarded to the top three male and female finishers, and medals will be given to the top three finishers in all age divisions outside of those winning plaques.

No pre-registration is required, and participants may sign up the morning of the race. For more information on the run, call (740) 286-2722.

There also will be a one-mile walk starting simultaneously with the run. There is no charge to take part in the walk.

Eagle Scout Honors Awarded to Thomas Silva

The fellowship hall of the Reformed Church was filled with scouts of all ages, families, and dignitaries, all gathered to celebrate the achievements of one dedicated young man.

Thomas Silva was all smiles on Saturday as he received pins, plaques, ribbons, badges and praise during his Eagle Scout Court of Honor at the fellowship hall of the Reformed Church of the Tarrytowns.

The church has sponsored Troop 22 for over 50 years, a troop that's produced about 50 Eagle Scouts through those five decades. There was a lag for a few years in the average one-per-year-rhythm -- there hasn't been a scout awarded here since 2008. But now Troop 22 is making up for lost time with Silva and three more candidates currently rising up the ranks.

Silva was surrounded by friends and family, a proud mother and his uniformed father, Scoutmaster Fred Silva. After the ceremonies, a long receiving line hugged and shook hands with the newly minted Eagle.

The day was declared "Thomas Silva Day" in Westchester County and after all the pomp, custom pins and speech-making, there was the buffet of ziti and other dishes, supplemented later by a huge order of pizza (these are growing Boy Scouts, after all).
Lynne Shafer, a Troop Committee member and the Eagle Scout Coordinator who mentors the scouts along this demanding path, said, "In no other organization do I see young people learn outdoor, communication, community and leadership skills in such a team environment." "We Troop leaders know we're really helping build community here, and wherever these young people set down roots after college," Shafer said.

The Eagle Project typically involves 150 or more hours coordinated by the Scout himself among many different participants. "I compare it to a challenging Harvard Business School case study with concrete, community-enhancing results," Shafer said. "It's certainly an achievement to be proud of!"

Troop 22 Eagle Projects in recent years have refurbished dressing rooms at the Tarrytown Music Hall, helped secure insurance funding for the Sleepy Hollow Ambulance Corps, structurally and cosmetically refurbished the Tarrytown Skate Shack on the lakes, and cleared trails and added benches and birdhouses to Sleepy Hollow walking trails. Projects in the pipeline aim to help Warner Library, make additional improvements at the Music Hall and clear more recreational trails.

Despite all his personal successes, Silva was more interested in thanking everyone else on Saturday who made this achievement possible. A true Scout through and through.

Employees Recognized by Choptank Electric

Denton Choptank Electric Cooperative recently recognized the service milestones of its employees.

President and CEO Mike Wheatley presented plaques to employees and acknowledged those with the longest service time Catherine Snow of Denton, who has been with the company for 55 years, and Wilhelm Retzlaff of Bridgeville, Del., who has been with the company for 40 years. Both are employed in the Denton headquarters office.

Employees recognized for 25 years of service were James Harmon, Tom Parker, Clarke Bayne, Thomas Tyndall, Gary Geisel, David Lewis, Lance Lockerman, Francis Kinnamon and Curtis Short.

Receiving recognition awards for 20 years of service were Douglas Hunter Jr., Anne Chouinard and Tom Simpson.

Jeff Coppage, Sterling Brown and Jessica Walls were honored for 10 years of service, while Mary Sellers, Scott Maurer, Cathy Conover, Harold Brooks, Russell Kauffman, Bobbie Herring, Ray Layton Jr., Tom Clark Jr., Randy Combs, Tiffany Trautman, Jonathon Swann and Paul Miles III were recognized for five years of service.

Piney River Moose Lodge Known for Service

Trophies, plaques and pictures of youth teams sponsored by Piney River Moose Lodge sponsor line part of the wood-paneled left wall of the lodge. The opposite wall is covered in plaques the lodge has received in recognition of the service it has performed over its 30 years of existence for the community and Moose International.

Donnie Maddox, the administrator of the lodge, stood admiring the photos of the children he and his “family fraternity” have helped. Maddox is also the only member of the 170-member Piney River Moose Lodge to receive his Pilgrim Degree, the highest degree attainable within Moose International. About one out of 6,000 members receive their Pilgrim each year.

The Moose Lodge is an international volunteer organization of men and women that focus on programs for children and elderly and bringing communities together.
“It felt great,” he said about receiving the honor. “It takes a lot of effort and a lot of work.”

In order to become a Pilgrim, Maddox had to obtain two other degrees — the degree of service to become part of the Moose legion and the fellowship degree. Among the requirements are holding a leadership position within the lodge at a higher level, and serving in the organization for a certain amount of time depending on the degree.

Despite the amount of time and work, Maddox said he has enjoyed the experience since becoming a member of the Loyal Order of Moose. Although he does not have a specific favorite project, he said he loves doing things for the kids and seeing their joy at Mooseheart, a trip he’s made three times.

Family Thanks Firefighters for Saving Dog's Life

Two area firefighters were given an unexpected gift this Christmas. Jared Thompson and Jamie Giese were presented with plaques thanking them for their service for the life-saving efforts of Koda, the dog.

On October 18, the two firefighters pulled Koda from a burning house and performed mouth-to-snout resuscitation. Koda’s owners, Todd and Kim Carlson said they wanted to show the crew how grateful they were for saving their dog. The plaques show the men in uniform next to a picture of Koda.

Giese says, "It’s very special, it’s a very special award. It’s going to be a hard one to beat throughout our career. It is such a good outcome." Both men say they couldn’t have done such a heroic thing without the help of their entire crew.

‘Business Wall’ Renewal in DeKalb Underway

An 18-year-old feature of the DeKalb Municipal Building’s lobby is getting a facelift.
City officials are looking to update the “Business Wall,” a collection of plaques from local businesses. “It’s for people to come into City Hall, to see the diversity of the businesses we have,” Mayor Kris Povlsen said.

Currently, businesses including General Electric, Greenacre Cleaners and Kishwaukee Community Hospital share space with 29 other businesses. DeKalb Economic Development Coordinator Jennifer Diedrich said she wanted to update the wall, which has gone mostly unchanged since its construction in 1993. A number of businesses have left the city and been created in the past 18 years, and she hopes an updated wall will reflect those changes.

Though the invitation has been open for a few weeks, Diedrich said a surge of requests came Friday after the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce sent out an email notice for the initiative. “That went out at 9:30 [Friday] morning, and I’ve had five companies call and say, ‘I want to do this,’ ” Diedrich said Friday afternoon. At the time she said at least eight companies have requested either new or updated plaques for the wall.

Matt Duffy, director of membership and marketing for the DeKalb chamber, said his organization was not spearheading the initiative, but was happy to help. “We’re just helping get the word out about it, letting our members know how they can get involved,” he said.

Businesses have until Jan. 13 to contact Diedrich and reserve a space on the lobby wall. Plaque shapes may vary, but officials are asking businesses to keep it to a maximum size of 9-inches by 12-inches.

Plaques Link Past to Present

John Greenwood Barnes was Cremorne's first settler and you can read all about him the next time you take a stroll along the Forgan Bridge.

Yesterday afternoon a series of historical plaques was unveiled as part of the newly completed $148 million river crossing. The six historical plaques, placed on three of the viewing platforms along the bridge, were written and researched by Mackay historians Terry Hayes, Berenice Wright and Glen Hall.

There to unveil the plaques was Member for Mackay Tim Mulherin and Main Roads regional director Ian Husband. "The boards show the history of the eastern end of the Pioneer River and the surrounding wharf precinct," Mr Mulherin said. "The Pioneer River and the area surrounding the new Forgan Bridge have played an important role in the history of Mackay. "While we celebrate the new Forgan Bridge, it's also vital to ensure there is a lasting memento of the old bridges and other historically important events to share and preserve our history for future generations."

Mrs Wright and Mr Hayes said they spent several weeks collecting the history from many sources before writing each of the stories on the plaques. "As historians we were very honoured to be asked to be a part of this," Mrs Wright said. "We had to edit a lot of the information; I wrote a lot of it out onto A4 pages and had to cut it back to around 150 words."

The first plaques feature the stories of Cremorne, which includes details of John Greenwood Barnes and his establishment of the Cremorne Gardens in 1867, and the wreck of the Brinawarr, which lies under the Forgan Bridge and is a valued relic of Mackay's early shipping history. The next recalls the wharfage on the Pioneer River in the 1860s and the floods that have been a defining influence of the flow of the Pioneer River.

The other two detail the old Forgan Bridge, including when it was officially opened in 1938 by William Forgan Smith, Premier of Queensland and Member for Mackay, and the Sydney Street Bridge, recounting its completion and associated works in 1889, which provided a long-awaited link between the township of Mackay and the near-northern side of the Pioneer River.

New Display in Longhorn Gym Highlights NSAA District Feats

When Longhorn fans attend the first home volleyball game next week in the high school gym, a display of NSAA district plaques will surely catch their eye. On the gym’s south wall are two long rows of Nebraska School Activity Association (NSAA) district plaques, noting CCS students’ accomplishments in athletics, speech and play productions.

CCS Activities Director Marc Mroczek and teacher/coach Chris Sander found all the plaques and moved them to the more prominent display this summer. They said it took them several days to clean out the trophy cases both in the East 9th St. school building and at the Wellington site. They were stacked randomly, and most were unable to be read. “People need to see the accomplishments by our students,” Sander said. “It might motivate kids when they see them in that they want to be part of that,” he added. Mroczek agreed. “I don’t think most people realize the success our school has had,” he said.

While it was a lot of work, both Mroczek and Sander know people will appreciate seeing them more visibly displayed. They had the help of maintenance head Kent Silvester and bus mechanic Del Rehn in getting the support system built into which the plaques were placed.

In all, there are 109 plaques on the wall, 68 for NSAA district championships or state qualification, and another 41 runner-up plaques. Up until 1977, the NSAA awarded trophies, Mroczek said, but after that the association went to awarding plaques. The NSAA activity trophies earned by CCS will remain at the Wellington site. Mroczek said the glass-front trophy case in the main lobby at the school will now contain NSAA plaques and trophies from the current years as well as the school’s two state championship trophies.

Transit Station Mosaic and Plaques Honor St. Lucie County's Highwaymen

A mosaic and 26 plaques, each with a single name, on the west wall of the Intermodal Transit Station that opened this week on Avenue D are the work of two local artists honoring the work of St. Lucie County's most famous artists, the Highwaymen.

The Highwaymen were a collection of mostly self-taught African American artists who painted and sold their work by the side of the road. Although their work been celebrated around Florida and the U.S., the transit station mural is the first that singles out many of the individual artists. Even the Florida Artists Hall of Fame wall in Tallahassee simply says "Alfred Hair and the Highwaymen."

Local artist Pat Cochran designed the 26 bronze plaques and sand cast them, using a specific ramming technique prior to pouring the bronze. Although he knows some of the local Highwaymen well, including Charles Walker and James Gibson, he has enjoyed meeting others for the first time while working on the station mural.

"One of the most rewarding aspects of the project occurred when we were installing the art and Highwaymen John Maynor rode up on his bike, exclaiming to those in the neighborhood that his name is up on that wall," Cochran said. "I am just really happy that I could be a part of this."

Cochran and mosaic artist Anita Prentice earned the responsibility of designing the Highwaymen memorial at 725 Ave. D by presenting through a competitive bid process.
Prentice's contribution was a large mosaic of a colorful royal Poinciana tree. I agree this image is an ideal fit for the centerpiece of the project, as so many of the Highwaymen artists used this blooming tree in their own art.

"We have a history of art here in St. Lucie County and this royal Poinciana follows this history. It is truly a magical tree which is bare, then explodes with color," Prentice said.

“Anita's pain-staking process involves breaking large pieces of colored glass with a hammer, sketching the image with chalk, then permanent marker, followed by laying each piece of colored glass into the right area by hand. The six-week process for this mural is truly evident when you see it in person. I was impressed with the numerous shades of reds and how well each tiny piece contributed to the larger picture. Many of our community members attended the official ribbon cutting of the Intermodal Transit Facility this past Tuesday. I encourage you to visit the site, too. It is a thoughtful tribute to a group of artists that has made Fort Pierce proud.”